


motel

by wealllose



Category: Monsta X (Band)
Genre: Attempt at Humor, Attempt at horror, Comfort/Angst, Comforting Jooheon, Horror, M/M, Nervous Changkyun, Survival Horror
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-24
Updated: 2018-06-24
Packaged: 2019-05-15 02:06:46
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,546
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14781572
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wealllose/pseuds/wealllose
Summary: jookyun horror au ; aka both of their cars break down at an old motel and they have to stay all night and its fucking creepy au





	motel

**Author's Note:**

> This is me attempting to be scary

It was just his luck, he supposed as his car began to sputter and rattle the longer his wheels traveled the baron road. Not to mention, he had no clue where exactly this so-called baron road would take him, and to top it off, the sky had turned a dull grey that only grew darker. 

His knuckles turned white the harder he gripped the steering wheel, palms clammy and sticking uncomfortably to faux leather. It was humid, and his air conditioning didn't work. Both passenger windows were cracked open just enough to let a small breeze of air through, playing with his hair and pushing it into his eyes. The whole atmosphere felt off, like death reeked in the thick air. His jaw tightened, eyes flickering to see how much gas he had left. This was typical Changkyun-- paranoid, anxious, doesn't-plan-ahead-before-driving-this-far, Im Changkyun. 

He cursed under his breath as he stared at the dwindling amount of gas he had left, hoping that if he stared long enough maybe it would magically rise. It didn't, and he began to swerve off the road before quickly pulling the wheel. He breathed in heavily, eyes back on the road again. 

He kept an eye out for a place to stop and refuel, subconscious praying that he had enough gas money to get him somewhere-- although it wasn't certain. Large, wet drops of rain began to fall from the clouds above, smacking his windshield loudly and splattering his vision. It came fast, each drop being carried by strong winds, some making their way through the open windows. He cursed again, reaching over to the passenger side to manually roll up the window-- yeah, his car sucked. His eyes darted between the lever and the road, flying like flies over a dead squirrel laying on the hot road, which he sadly witnessed a few miles back. 

He rolled his own window up successfully without driving into a ditch, flicking the windshield wipers on and watching the water smear across the glass. It was only moments before it all went south, and there was nothing he could do about it. 

His car jerked under his weight, and for a moment he almost thought he ran something over, someone, but as his wheels began to slow down he realized he was equally fucked. He stepped on the gas harder but it did nothing, he was just barely coasting. He went to hopelessly pull off onto the side of the road, when he saw red glow illuminate his water-coated windshield. A small motel only a few feet ahead. 

...

He sat there for awhile, full panic mode activated. His knuckles looked like pale orbs of light as he stared at them, only grow whiter, his eyes burning the longer he stared. His pupils were probably either huge on his eyes or barely there at all, matching the pure whiteness of his tight grip. He wasn't breathing, until he realized he wasn't and took in a sputtering breath of sticky air, coughing it up once it hit the bottoms of his lungs. It tasted like dust and smoke, a combination that made him feel sick. 

His heart pounding was the only noise he could focus on, too scared to let himself hear his own racing thoughts let alone look up and see his surroundings. There was a quiet tapping noise in his left ear that only grew louder until he finally brought up his gaze. There was a person hunched over at his window. He screamed. 

There was a muffle of words spoken through the window that he couldn't understand, he wasn't sure if he wanted to hear. The person looked about his age the longer he stared, 19 maybe, and his hair was a mess of blonde curls tucked beneath his black hood attached to the large sweatshirt covering his frame. His face looked soft, although his eyes were deep-set and dark. He decided against all odds and opened the door to step out. 

His feet felt like mud seeping back into the ground when he stepped out, legs shaking as they desperately tried to hold his weight for the first time since he left the college building hours ago. A numb feeling spread up his ankle and he decided he was an idiot for thinking he could make it home alone. 

"Lee Jooheon," the stranger sighed and held out his hand that was half engulfed in his hoodie. Changkyun swallowed and shook it quickly before retrieting his hand to his side. "What a lovely day, right?"

Changkyun searched the guys face for any trace of humor, but all that he got was a face full of dead sarcasm. He nodded anyways, stealing a look at his surroundings. "Yeah," silence, "I'm Changkyun."

"Im or I'm?" The guy joked again, if it could even be considered a joke with his tone. 

He tried to grin but couldn't, "both."

The guy, Jooheon, nodded and turned away, seeming to also be scanning the perimeter. It was then that Changkyun realized holy fucking shit, I'm out here alone with this guy, what if he's crazy? 

He kept a hand on his car door for safety, yet also realizing that this safety tactic was faulty and wouldn't save him at all. At least it gave him a sliver of piece of mind. 

"My car broke down, old piece of junk always does this to me at just the right times." Jooheon shook his head and faced him again, except this time a small grin was visible. "Looks like my bad luck washed onto you, too."

Changkyun felt his grip on the door handle loosen up. "Yeah, I've been expecting it, though. I should've known this thing couldn't make it over 20 miles."

"Were you headed somewhere?" Jooheon kicked a rock, watching it roll across the empty parking lot and hit a door on the motel. It rattled softly. 

"Yeah, home. You?"

A shrug, "doesn't matter now. We're stuck in hillbilly hell."

There was a break in the small talk, silence cutting through like a slicing streak of lightning. It looked like part two of the previous rainstorm was about to come. 

"I have my phone, I could try to call someone. You got one?" Changkyun tried to brainstorm instead of getting lost in the rough scenery. All to be seen was a big, empty field, a dark grey sky with parting clouds, and the small motel behind them. Add in a few big trees and bam-- horror movie setting. He shivered softly, taking note of how the temperature was dropping rapidly. 

Jooheon fished in his pocket and pulled out a phone, long finger tapping the screen to bring it to life. His eyes focused on it for awhile before his head rolled back in frustration. His face was turned up to the grey sky, features so blindingly clear, and for the first time Changkyun really studied him. His eyes were deep set yet somehow the softest part of him, eyelashes gently touching the tops of his smooth cheekbones. He noticed his dimples when he set his lips in a straight line, deep and gentle, bringing a soft tone to his aura. His eyes opened and stared back. 

"No signal. You should still try, though."

Changkyun snapped back into reality, feeling his phone buzz in his hand. He quickly looked down with wide eyes, hoping, praying to see a text or a call of someone asking how he was doing-- but no, it was only a notification to say there was no signal. He sighed deeply, hands coming up to tug at his hair. 

"No signal either," reality was still catching up to him, "what are we going to do? We're stuck here, this is real, this is happening."

He was beginning to spiral into panic, voice becoming less calm and nonchalant, breathing increasing, hands tugging harder at his soft hair. Jooheon watched him slowly cracking, taking notice in how the boy seemed to shrink in on himself. He was small, small frame, small voice-- and as he grew in anxiety his shoulders shrunk even more. He wondered if he would shrink to nothing if he let him. 

"Hey, Changkyun," the sound rolling off of the others tongue sounded foreign, "don't lose your cool. At least we're not completely alone, you have me. And I promise I'll do everything I can to help get us out of here. It'll just take some team work." His reassuring tone was almost believable, and Changkyun nodded, shoulders relaxing.

"Okay, first, let's see if anyone is here," Jooheon spoke in the direction of the building, feet beginning to walk towards it. Changkyun stared at him walking away before following quickly, deciding he would rather be alone with this stranger than by himself. 

...

The doors wouldn't budge under their hands, some doorknobs twisting only a millimeter before stopping. So far, all of them were locked, and there weren't that many doors to begin with. One, locked, two, locked, three, locked-- there were only four left. It took until the very last door, the one painted in chipping red paint, to slowly open under Jooheon's touch. They shared a wide stare before peering into the dark opening, seeing nothing inside but blackness that seeped out from under the door. Changkyun felt a pin prick in the back on his neck, suddenly stepping back. 

"What if someone's in there?" He whispered, "What if there's an alarm?" 

Jooheon just stared at him, hand still gripping the door as amusement played in his growing dimples. "Chicken?"

Changkyun blushed, flustered, "what? No, it's just-- dude."

His stream of blabbering words was cut off when Jooheon threw the door open, watching as it hit the inside wall with a bang. Changkyun closed in on himself some more, hands placing themselves over his ears. Through his fingers he heard Jooheon laugh for the first time. 

"There's no one, look," a light was clicked on that illuminated the once mysterious room. It was the receptionist room, an empty chair sat behind a desk, papers scattered amongst it. Changkyun slowly joined Jooheon inside. 

"No ones checked in here for years, the last date signed says January 14, 2005."

Changkyun took a step closer to look at the paper as well. It was a page in a big book-- old, smeared dates scribbled on the paper enclosed in the red binding. He peered over Jooheon's shoulder as he crouched. He was much taller than Changkyun. 

"Dude," Changkyun gasped, "that's not a zero, that's an eight, and that's not a two it's a fucking one."

They both moved their faces closer, the smeared date becoming more blurred the longer they looked. And he was right, it didn't say 2005, it said 1985. 

"This place is ancient, that's like, older than my grandma or something." Jooheon stood up, his shoulder catching under Changkyun chin. 

"Shut up, your grandparents are way older than that," he rubbed his chin, "and anyways, if no one's been here for that long, how the hell is someone supposed to save us?" 

The words clicked in the others mind finally, his humor dying as fast as that squirrel earlier. Changkyun shivered. 

"I guess you're right." Was all he said. They stood in the silence again, as if they were waiting for someone or something to pop up and take them home, or wherever it was they were headed. But when nothing happened it really set in. 

"Fuck," Changkyun was the first to break, "I was supposed to be home soon, my family hasn't seen me for months since I started college. What will they think when I don't come home? Will they look for me? Are they calling me but I can't see?" He paced back and forth, the old floor creaking under each step. His feet kicked up ancient dust that swirled under their noses, Jooheon coughed before talking. 

"Of course they'll worry, they're your family. So that's why we have to keep going and not give up or freak out. Look--" he turned and held up a small box, "--these are keys to the rooms, let's try some out and see if we can get inside and go from there."

Changkyun nodded solemnly and followed the other boy. 

...

"How old are you?" Changkyun started up the small again talk as he watched Jooheon fiddle with keys and try to fit them in the lock. He noticed how the other squinted in concentration, big eyes turning into small slots as he worked. 

"20," the key didn't fit, "I feel so old saying that."

"Old? You're only a year older than me, you've got a lot of time left until you can call yourself old."

"Yeah, and I wasn't planning on spending a lot of that time here but I guess there's been a change of plans." Jooheon laughed softly as they moved to the next door. 

"Like you said, we'll get out of here."

Jooheon shifted his gaze directly on Changkyun, it felt heavy on his skin, "so you're being positive now?"

"What else is there to do?" Changkyun took a key and tried it in the door, sighing when it didn't fit. 

"That's true. I just felt like you're the type of person to go into full panic mode, though."

"You're not wrong."

"That's alright, we're opposite, that's a good thing." Jooheon looked up again. 

Their eyes met for too long, Changkyun's skin turning red under the cooling air. He shivered once again, hearing a soft click as it passed through his spine. 

"Perfect," Jooheon exclaimed with a smile, twisting the knob that still held the perfect-fit key. And sure enough, it opened. He opened it slower this time unlike when he slammed the other one, taking more caution and care as he stepped inside to search for a light. Changkyun strayed in the doorway, arms wrapped around his small frame as he watched the other blindly walk about the space. Another click was heard and light seeped through the dusty lamp shade. 

The room was small, a bed taking up most of the room, a small table next to it, a lamp, a phone, and another small door that looked like it went to the world's smallest bathroom. That was about it. 

"No windows?" Changkyun asked as he stepped in. A faint musty smell hit his nose and made him choke instantly. Jooheon looked around and pointed at the very back wall, seeing a window covered in black curtains to block the view. He pulled them back to reveal the field at the back of the building. A boring sight. 

"It's not too bad, only smells a little," Jooheon chuckled, making his way to the bed. He sat with a thud, only a small amount of dust arising into the air. "Plus there's this--"

He put the phone to his ear and listened to it buzzing with life. It was the kind that has the spiral cord attached to a box-- super old-school. Changkyun stepped in further and plucked the key out of the lock, closing the door behind him. Soft tapping of numbers on the phone rang through the room. 

As he stood he took more notice of the room, seeing it's red velvet colored walls, the beds red sheets to match, the ugly white carpet that was stained in places with who knows what. The walls were dusty, as expected from not being lived in for that long-- yet they weren't that dirty. That's what didn't make sense to Changkyun, it looked old, but almost like it had been taken care of. He felt a chill and sat next to Jooheon on the bed. 

"It works but I can't seem to get all the numbers to dial." He said, tapping the '7' repeatedly. 

"Could I try? Maybe all the numbers in mine will work." He peered over the others shoulder, feeling his breath catch when Jooheon turned and looked at him. He gently handed him the phone, to which Changkyun nodded his head. They scooted closer to the phone and in the process, closer to each other to where Changkyun could feel the others breath fanning on his neck as he leaned to press the buttons. He tapped his family's number, anxiously waiting to see if it worked, if someone would pick up. 

As he waited, he kept focusing his mind on Jooheon's breath on his skin, and how cold it felt. He faintly wondered if it was truly that cold in the room. 

"I got something--" he spoke fast, heart thumping as he heard a noise from the other end. They both tensed, hair standing on end until-- beep, beep, beep, beep. The number you dialed cannot be reached. 

He placed the phone down, defeated. They both sighed, Changkyun falling back onto the hard mattress. 

"Let's not lose hope, okay?" Jooheon tried with that again, but it didn't work. Changkyun still felt the anxiety in his chest. 

A loud noise sounded from the sky, nearly sounding like a tree had fallen directly behind the building. A snap, like the hands of God took that tree in his grasp and snapped it like a pencil. There was silence, then there was rain. Changkyun pressed his eyes closed, defeat settling deeper into his bones. 

It was a roar of wind, rain drops, quickly followed by thunder, lighting chasing directly behind. It was as if on cue, the world wanted to destroy any hope of them getting home. 

"Jooheon," Changkyun muttered softly, rolling over on the mattress to face away from him, "please don't judge me if I cry."

Jooheon replied with a laugh that died, seeing how the boys shoulders shook as he curl in on himself. "Hey, you don't need to cry. It's okay--"

"How is it okay? This wasn't supposed to happen, we're stuck here in the middle of nowhere in a building that no one has been in for years!" A crack of thunder sounded as he rose his voice. He shrunk again at the loud noise. He placed his hands over his face, hood pulled up over his head that pressed into the mattress. Jooheon got up and pulled the curtain back over the window and locked the door. 

"Changkyun," he went back to the bed after taking precautions, "please stay with me, just talk to me. I'm here, you're not alone. I'm going to get us out of here, you just have to trust me."

Changkyun realized then how close the other boy was, feeling his body heat radiating off of him like a warm blanket. It was odd though, how he felt so warm but also a cold breeze skim past his skin softly. Changkyun curled in on himself once more as a crack of thunder blasted through the sky. 

Jooheon languidly moved his eyes to the curtain over the window, seeing the lightning flash before looking back to Changkyun. The boy looked so small and delicate, shivers erupting from his body. 

"Are you scared of storms?" 

He nodded back, not speaking because it was obvious. He only hid in his hood further. Jooheon rested back on his elbows. 

"You said you were going home from college, right?" Small talk ensued, "what do you go for?" 

"Arts." He mumbled through his hoodie. 

"Like drawing, writing, music?" Jooheon tried to get more out of him simply to make the storm seem smaller than it was. 

"A mix of it all. I like writing the most, though. That's what I spend most of my time on."

"That's cool. I never went to college, I barely made it out of high school. I was a good student, I just never felt like I fit in there-- the whole, 'spend even more years of life in school' thing." 

Changkyun understood, he never really liked school either. The only reason he went was because he was that passionate about writing and art that it would be a shame to not force himself to go. Even if it felt like it wasn't worth it sometimes-- especially then, as he lay curled up on the cold, hard, and foreign bed with a stranger. Maybe he wasn't that much of a stranger anymore. 

"I'm cold, I have blankets and extra clothes in my car that I want to get." Changkyun sat up, looking back at the covered window, not knowing the damage of outside. 

"It's getting bad out there, you'll blow away." Jooheon laughed, watching the boy make his way to the door and peer out the peephole. It was cracked, making it look like his vision was scratched with claws. 

"Oh well," he shrugged, "maybe I'll get blown to safety."

Jooheon held back his chuckle at the words, watching the door being opened to reveal a fucking monsoon. Some of the raindrops hit so hard that they traveled all the way to the open doorstep and splashed at his feet. He took a breath, feeling like he was preparing to take a deep dive. Before he could hear Jooheon's protests from the bed, he was darting out into the storm. It felt like time had stopped when the first drop hit his skin, like he was running through floating drops of frozen rain that cascaded off of his clothes. Yet in reality, it wasn't calm and still, it was treacherous and stinging any piece of raw skin it touched. He could barely see as he hit the unlock on his car and reached into the backseat, clothes already soaked beyond belief. He grabbed the bag he needed before slamming the door and running back as the wind pushed him. Jooheon was stood in the door watching with disbelief at the boy, noticing that as soon as he stepped out he got drenched. He held his hand out for him and pulled him through the door. 

"Are you crazy?" Jooheon raised his voice. He watched Changkyun shiver and drip like a broken faucet. The other didn't say anything besides the sound of his jaw chattering. 

Jooheon took the bag, which thankfully didn't get as wet as he, before leading him to the small bathroom behind the mysterious door. He sat him on the closed toilet seat while he checked the water. 

"There's a thing called hypothermia, you know," Jooheon tisked, running his hand under the water, "I didn't know it was that bad out."

"Me neither." Changkyun stuttered between chills. 

Jooheon messed with the bathtub faucet still, finally getting some warm water out of it. "Yet you still went." 

Changkyun ignored him and looked around the small room they cramped themselves in. It was clean, like, too clean to not have been in for decades. He felt an indescribable feeling fill his chest. 

"Here, you can warm up, unless you want to get sick. I'll look for towels or something."

"I have some in my bag." Changkyun said and stood, ready to get the soggy clothes off of his body. 

The movement of Jooheon leaving the small room was tense. He stood from the side of the bath, coming face to face with a disheveled Changkyun before sliding past him, ripping his eyes away. It left the boy with a feeling of heat rising to his cheeks again, even though he felt numb. 

The process of getting into the shower was not good, considering the feeling of peeling soaking clothes off of his cold skin. But the overall shower was pleasant, the water pressure nice and warm, cascading down his spine and effectively thawing him. He went to reach a hand up to his hair, feeling his fingers reach up and touch the wet strands when a deafening boom erupted in the air. He jumped and slipped, barely catching himself on the tile wall behind himself. He opened his eyes only to be greeted with blackness-- pure, pitch blackness. 

He steadied himself, a hand splayed against the cold tiles to keep himself up. He listened for something, possibly for Jooheon to come in and say the power went out, or to ask if he was okay. But there was nothing. 

He decided to turn the shower off a few moments after standing in darkness, reaching a blind hand out to the faucet. There was a dark glint on the back of his hand that he mistook for water, but when he looked twice he was jumping back again. He couldn't get very far from his own hand, though. 

This time he screamed. 

"Hey-- you okay? What happened?" He heard Jooheon ask nearly instantly from the other room, voice nearing closer. Changkyun swatted his hand around like a mad man, trying to get it off, get it off, get it away. He breathed erratically, putting his hand under the faucet that was now scalding, never answering the question. He didn't know the answer. 

The lights flickered on and he snapped out of it, now curling in on himself to hide from the others eyes. Jooheon stood on the other side of the thin curtain, heart beating fast from Changkyun's outburst.

"What happened?" It was asked again, and this time Changkyun could actually see what happened instead of blindly panicking. He brought his hand back up into view, a searing, hot blush scalding his cheeks. There was nothing there. 

Heavy breaths, "n-nothing."

He could hear the judgement and confusion in the air as Jooheon handed him a towel from around the curtain. There was nothing there at all. 

"Did you scream because of the noise? It was just thunder again." Jooheon tried to soothe while giving Changkyun some room, standing behind the closed door. 

For some reason he couldn't breathe, the steam from the shower filling his lungs as he heaved, towel wrapped around his slim waist that trembled under each breath. He needed air, he needed to get away from the shower-- mind playing tricks on him. 

"I'm fine, it's fine." He stepped out of the space and pushed the door opened, Jooheon moving out of the way as he did. He cast his eyes low, only able to see the droplets of water falling onto the carpet as Changkyun walked. He kept his gaze low, until he heard the others ragged breaths ripping through his chest, collapsing on the bed. He looked up to see Changkyun, wet and nearly bare, skin dripping with drops of warm water-- too warm. His shoulders and chest lifted with each heavy gasp, slim hips wrapped in a white towel that he clutched. His hair dripped over his forehead. 

"Did you see something? A bug? A rat? Something in the drain? This place is old, I'm sure whatever it was, it's okay." He tried to comfort again, words falling on deaf ears. 

"I just-- don't want to talk about it." Changkyun took a deep breath with closed eyes, arms coming to wrap around his bare shoulders. He suddenly felt so naked and exposed, embarrassed, "can I have a minute?" 

Jooheon nodded quickly and awkwardly looked for a place to remove himself to. "I'll check out the bathroom." He said, hiking a thumb over his shoulder and leaving the room. Changkyun was alone again. He quickly got dressed and wrung his hair out before calling his newfound friend back into the room, the lonesome feeling unsettling to feel.


End file.
